Spring Riding, Winter Gloves

Despite the much cooler than normal spring that we've been having the weather is starting to turn a bit clearer than recent days.  Great news for riding.  However, our mornings are still hovering around 38-40 degrees and we are lucky to just cross over 50 during the day.  Now for the most part that isn't bad.  38-40 degrees I'm ok with bibs, leg warmers, arm warmers, base layer, jersey, and windfront vest.  It's my hands...

A few weeks back I went on a ride with some of my riding buddies, and had on my full finger Pearl Izumi Cyclone gloves which are known to be "heavy/warm" gloves.  It was true for that day when we were riding since it was about 45.  However, by 3/4 of the way through the ride I realized that I could have gone heavier.  Similarly, on the mornings I need to be wearing the pair of gloves that Sarah told me to get after I showed her my finger one night at dinner (about 45-60 minutes after getting home).  I almost wonder if I need to wait until 70 degrees to even think of fingerless gloves.

Now I've never said that I was a medical professional but here is what I think is going on.  On my 2nd chemo they accessed a vein in my hand.  At one point it felt really weird so they came over.  Adjusting the saline/poison ratio that I was getting my reaction was delayed.  I thought that it was feeling better at one point and the nurse was surprised since she had completely blocked the saline.  Then it came.  BURN.  Wow did that hurt.  Ever since I've noticed a dark smudge under my skin on my pinky.  Now I dont know if they are related and I'm not speaking medically but I think it is an internal burn.  One of the benefits of getting a port is that the chemo goes into a vein with a higher volume of blood so it dilutes faster rather than beating up veins.  Patients that continually use their arms/hands sometimes find it more difficult to access the vein because the chemo makes the veins collapse.  This is what I think, to an extent, happened to my middle finger.  One those cold days at my top knuckle there is a very specific line of coloring to white.  The tip of my finger gets VERY little blood supply and the only way to warm it up is to massage and push the blood back up, combined with heat.

Oh well, I live with that now, but at least I can just put on the winter gloves and get riding.

LIVESTRONG